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Tax Evasion Spotlighted as Swiss Banks Start Sharing Client Data

Switzerland has started sharing financial account information with tax authorities in dozens of countries as a way of fighting tax evasion, but Africa, which loses about $60 billion in illicit flows each year, mostly into European banks, is conspicuous by its absence from the deal. Swiss bank accounts have long been stereotyped as enablers of financial opacity, tax fraud and safekeeping of stolen public funds. That era is coming to an end.